World Heart Day – How often do you listen to your heart?

Sometimes you ask your heart if your partner is the right one, if your friend was completely honest with you or wonder whether or not you should put your heart first and ignore your brain.But do you ever ask your heart about its health?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including heart disease and stroke, take lives prematurely. In fact, they cause 17.3 million deaths each year and the numbers are rising. By 2030, it is expected that 23 million people will die from CVDs annually – that is more than the population of Australia!

It is a myth that heart disease and stroke only affect older, male, rich populations. CVDs affect as many women as men however, their risk is seriously underestimated. In fact, heart disease is actually the number one killer of women, causing 1 in 3 female deaths: shockingly, that’s about one death per minute!

Children are vulnerable too: the risk for CVDs can begin before birth during foetal development, and increase further during childhood with exposure to unhealthy diets, lack of exercise and smoking.

To mark World Heart Day, we give you some tips on how to protect your heart:

1. Get active
Physical inactivity causes six per cent of deaths globally. Risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes and lack of physical activity, present in childhood can greatly increase the likelihood a child will develop heart disease as an adult.

Even 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity fi ve times per week reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Physical activity does not have to be exercise – other activities, such as household chores count.

2. Eat a heart-healthy diet
More and more people are turning to processed foods that are often high in sugar, salt, saturated or trans fats. Unhealthy diets are linked to four of the world’s top 10 leading risk factors causing death.

It can seem hard to stop eating the foods you love. Instead of avoiding sweet foods completely, swap chocolate or other sweets for alternative treats such as mango or other fruits.
A heart-healthy diet which is rich in fruit and vegetables helps prevent heart disease and stroke.

3. Say “no” to tobacco
One in every two smokers will die of tobacco-related diseases, unfortunately, more and more children and teenagers are taking up smoking. Secondhand smoke kills more than 600,000 nonsmokers every year including children. In infants, secondhand smoke can cause sudden death.

4. Know your numbers
By taking the steps above, you and your family can reduce the burden of heart disease and stroke wherever you are in the world, but it is important to keep a regular check on your heart health.

Visit a healthcare professional that can measure your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, weight and body mass index (BMI). Once you know your overall CVD risk, you can develop a specific plan of action to improve your heart health.

Heart disease and stroke are avoidable and often triggered by risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight and obesity, tobacco use, or the presence of diabetes. These can to a large extent be prevented and controlled through the consumption of a healthy diet, regular exercise and avoiding tobacco.

So do listen to your heart and make sure it stays healthy!
Happy Heart Day!!